Samsung Series 7 XE700T1A-A01US 11.6-Inch Slate (64 GB, Win 7 HP)
- Intel Core i5 Processor 2467M
- 802.11 abg/n WiFi, BT V3.0 High Speed
- Windows 7 HP (64b)
- 4GB DDR3
- 64GB SSD
With stunning lines, a sleek design, powerfully fast performance, and cutting edge technology, the Samsung Series 7 is a slate that does not know the meaning of compromise. From the blazing fast processor to innovative features such as Fast Start, you can get more done in less time. Faster is Better A lightweight slate computer with full PC capabilities running Windows 7, the Samsung Series 7 Slate PC (model XE700T1A-A01US) offers all of the features of a full-sized laptop in an extremely portable package, providing highly mobile users with the computing power they need for maximum productivity anywhere they go. The full-powered Samsung Series 7 Slate PC
with Intel Core i5 dual-core processor and
Windows 7 Home Premium (view larger). Great for sharing presentations on the go. Optional dock and keyboard create a desktop PC experience (view larger). Weighing less than two pounds and measuring only half an inch thick, the Series 7 Slate can truly be taken anywhere. D
List Price: $ 1,099.00
Price: $ 1,049.00
(this review is for the 128GB version bought at an MS store, no dock or keyboard)
First a little about myself: I am not a fan boy of anything. I love gadgets but I am not emotionally attached to any brand. I built my own Windows 7 computers, have two ipads, a macbook air, a dell laptop and an iMac. Over the years I have owned 4 different tabletpcs and have been disappointed with each. I toyed with the idea of buy the EP121, but the I heard about the Samsung Slate so I waited. On paper, it seemed like as close to perfect a Windows Tablet as I can hope for before Windows 8 came out. As soon as it hit one of the MS store in LA, I drove 4 hours to get it. Here’s my review after 2 days of use. First my biases:
1. I am no longer a student. As a physician, I have long wished for a tablet platform for bedside charting. Unfortunately, the organization I work for invested heavily on a desktop platform so this tablet will be more for taking personal and meeting notes in OneNote and for playing around with drawing and painting programs.
2. I have iPads. While I love them, I am looking for a full windows 7 computer, so I don’t expect the kind of eye candy and impeccable touch experience of an iPad.
Out of the box, I am going to give it 5 Stars and I am going to take points off as I go along.
At first glance, this thing screams 5 stars. It’s a handsome slab of a tablet. There’s a little creak here and there if you hold it in the right places but I am willing to over look that. A bonus point is that the silly Wintel stickers aren’t glued down! They are on a peel-away plastic so this will save you the trouble of peeling the gluey mess off later.
The pen is not impressive to hold, with a cheap plastic feel and comes with only one nib. I already knew that the tablet didn’t have a pen holder. I thought I didn’t care, but immediately lost the thing among all the wrappings and it took several frustrating minutes to find the pen. They could have easily made a small clip or even a hole for a string. Terrible decision to leave this off. I am going to take 0.125 star off just for this.
The power brick is small about the size of a short and chubby candy bar. This is good because I was afraid that it was bigger. So far so good and then I look at the three-prong cord that comes with it. Are you kidding me? Why do you design a small power brick with BIG THICK cord? This is just sloppy, lazy design and ruins the complete experience. I have a macbook air and their power brick and cord are small pieces of art in themselves. This tablet is meant to be ultra portable, the power brick design and cord just ruined it. Another 0.125 star off.
So, before I powered this on. It’s now a 4.75-star device.
I went through the typical Windows 7 setup. The UI layer from Samsung is OK, but I figure it’s a bonus so I am not going to take any points off.
The screen is awesome. I am the kind of person who likes to turn my iPads, laptops etc to full brightness, but I think I am going to leave the Samsung Slate at 40% because full brightness is just TOO bright.
The ambient light sensor is annoying and I am not sure why they turned it on as default because they are going to get a lot of returns from people who think the flickering screen is defective. Bad decision, but since you can turn it off, no points off.
The pen works as expect even at the edges. Touch seems responsive. At times it confuses pen and touch, I am willing to over look this, as I am sure I will learn to prevent this with experience.
It certainly doesn’t have the touch experience of an iPad, but I already knew that. I am hoping windows 8 will improve the experience.
I watched HD netflix and Amazon movies and just couldn’t stop smiling.
I have an HDHomerun, an over-the-air broad cast tuner hooked to my router, and I can watch HD TV on this thing! I love it.
The web browsing experience with IE touch or Chrome Touch are not as slick as the iPad (I know, I said I wasn’t going to compare this to the iPad), but I love the portrait mode for long pages. And you can use your fingers to pan around. Not bad.
If you know Windows 7, you probably know the handwriting recognition is awesome. The large onscreen keyboard is good enough, but I wish there were audio feedback when you click on the keys. No big deal, no points off.
This slate came preinstalled with Office 2010 starter, but NO OneNote to test it out. Who makes these decisions? For most people, OneNote is why they buy the tablet. I have to uninstall it and reinstall my copy of office 2010. I know OneNote and love it, so no surprise here. The slippery glass surface ruins the feel of the pen. The screen is bright enough that I will add an anti-glare matte later for a better “pen-paper” feel. This is highly subjective so I will not take any points off.
Audio: good enough.
Expansion: points off for microSD. The tablet is big enough, there is room for an SD slot. Points off for no displayport. Points off for only one USB port. 0.125 points off for all these little deficiencies.
And then it happened, blue screen of death after I installed Google Chrome. Was it Chrome’s fault? I don’t know. Then it happened again, after I tried the nifty Surface Lagoon screen saver. I am paranoid now. Another 0.125 star off for this. I hope this doesn’t continue.
So now it’s down to 4.5 Stars.
Cameras: I have a question. How come they can put much better cameras on little phones but not on an expensive device with more computing power. The back camera really sucks, and really is not useful for anything. Minus .25 star.
Battery: is it 6 hours as advertised? Maybe, if you turn the brightness down to 30%. Fortunately, this is not a big deal on this bright screen. No star off.
Form factor: 16:9 really needs getting used to. But for me personally, it doesn’t affect the way I use it.
Noise: In a quiet room, you can hear it. It’s not bad and probably not noticeable in the background noise of a lecture hall or meeting for example.
Heat: a little warm after a while but tolerable, you will learn to ignore it.
Verdict (after two days of use) 4.25 Stars. It’s the best available out there until next year.
But there’s always next year. Enjoy it now.
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